Recently, the Biden administration again did what it does best: give away Other People’s Money.
This time it was for mass transit, a favorite liberal delusion.
The automobile is perhaps the clearest expression of personal freedom in America. It allows people to go anywhere in the nation they want to go, when they want to go and on their own route.
That is the antithesis of government control.
Altogether, there were 130 awards totaling nearly $1.7 for transit projects in 46 states and territories. The funding paid for more than 1,700 American-built buses, and nearly half will be so-called zero-emission models.
With Florida’s governor running for president, and Biden possibly a candidate for re-election, little money went to Florida.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority did apply for Biden’s Infrastructure funding but was not selected.
JTA, however, has received smaller grant awards. In the 2023 fiscal year, it received a grant for $1.73 million. And in 2022 JTA got a grant for $15.4 million. JTA also received $7.95 million under Community Project Funding. The latest handout was the second bus grant package funded by Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which has now spent more than $3.3 billion on buses and the infrastructure that supports them. Over the next three years, funding for American transit will amount to almost $5 billion more.
This spending comes out of the pocket of taxpayers and means Jacksonville taxpayers will get none of their money back.
Combined, these projects will deliver more than 1,300 new American-made buses running on “green” technology. The administration claims these vehicles will reduce noise and air pollution, and help meet Biden’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The funding of various transportation agencies around the state is detailed in the National Transit Database.
All the agencies are funded by a combination of federal, state and local money. But the JTA has the highest percentage of local funds of any Florida agency except for the city of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County.
But it ranks only 15th in federal funding, getting 25 percent of its total operating funding from Washington.
Jacksonville’s transit operation also has a higher total cost per capita than most other transportation agencies in Florida.
